Angels and Saints
by OhaiCHILLY
Summary: A very funny, yet slightly inappropriate Angeal story. I'm writing this for fun. There will be characters from stories my friend xanaxana talk about and write. So please read her story Heart Failure as well as this.
1. Chapter 1

ONE

It's your typical, cliché chance encounter that changes their lives forever. But it's not that their cliché makes it that awkward. In fact, the way it happened was too ironic to be mere coincidence. To her it was perfect timing, to him… It was fate.

You see, these two people worked for the same company with different occupations that just so happened to take them to the same town at the same time.

She, being Syria, worked undercover for Shinra, acting as a traveler that would visit the different towns of Gaia, to promote the further use of Shinra's technology. She's one of the biggest assets to the company that's completely behind the scenes.

He, being Angeal, is a First Class SOLDIER. Enough said.

So the story begins like this. Syria was one of the last off the boat in Junon Bay. Because of her… eccentric personality, she wore long pencil skirts and formal dress shirts with fake thick rimmed glassed to conceal her emerald eyes and accentuate her burgundy hair. With the pencil skirt she wore long, form fitting leather stiletto boots that went up her thigh. She was walking up the stairs, which were grated, and her heel got caught in one of the holes. In trying to get her foot out she twisted her ankle, and then carefully made it completely worse. Now this woman, being the way she is, starts cursing under her breath from the annoying pain shooting up her leg. As she's using both hands to pull out her indefinitely stuck foot. A man comes up the stairs and sees her struggling.

Now to him this is slightly amusing. But, being the person he is, he offers help. "If you touch me," she snarled through clenched teeth, "I'll rip off your sex organ!"

"Ma'am, why don't you take off your boot?" Now it seemed obvious but she sighed and shook her head.

"You can only take them off a certain way without ruining them and these are 2000 gil limited edition designer boots. I am NOT taking it off and ruining it." From this explanation Angeal sighs and shakes his head.

"Then I'll have to break your foot to get the heel out."

"So do it," she barks. He's looking at her foot and thinking, 'Don't do it Angeal'. But she repeats herself and he decided to go ahead and break her foot. They both hear the bone make an awful crack as he pulls the front of her foot up, but the heel comes out. Syria is not stable, she's not getting much air on inhales and cannot stand on her foot. Stray tears fall out of her eyes.

"Let's get you to an infirmary."

"No! Hell no!" She hisses, "I'm fine."

"So walk," Angeal dares her. Her eyes throw insults at him through a disgusted glare.

"Ladies first," she gestures to the stairs and swallows hard as a cold sweat breaks out on her skin.

"Stubborn woman," he says under his breath. He can't really do his job if she's going to be this way. So Angeal, being Angeal, picks up the girl bridal style and carries her to the infirmary.

Now Syria, being Syria, is annoyed but thinks it's very sweet and somehow very kinky. She likes "_assertive_" men. When they're in the room she looks at him and says, "Can you take off my boots for me?" He thinks this is a very awkward request but agrees. After a brief explanation on how to take these boots off his hands are hiked far up her pencil skirt. When he's finally taking it off of her foot she's hissing, "Good god! This hurts worse than losing my virginity!" This turns the pink tint in his cheeks to a further red hue, but he puts his hands up her skirt again and proceeds to take the other off.

"There," he sat down on a chair adjacent to the examining table.

"Thank you."

"Yes… well…" he pauses, "If there's any other way I can injure you further just let me know." To this sarcastic statement she chuckles.

"I didn't catch your name." His eyes look at her with a hint of annoyance.

"Angeal," he says briskly.

"Angeal?"

"Hewley."

"Oh, I'm Syria Winds." She smiles. He gives a nod. His eyes are averting hers and this makes her mad. "You're a SOLDIER?"

"First Class."

"Oh! You're THAT Angeal!" She gasps. "I work for Shinra myself."

"I see."

"I'm not that valuable to the company, but I make good money."

"Enough to buy 2000 gil boots that can only be taken off a certain way?" She looks down at her swelling foot and nods. "Well then I can say that if you make that much you are valuable. Unless you're sleeping around to get your money."

"Oh please, I'm not like SOME people for Shinra." She's listing off people in her head that she knows have slept their way up the ranks of Shinra.

"Do you like sex?" He asked awkwardly.

"Only with people I can trust with my life. I'd have to know them for a very long time before I even think about it." She swings her right leg off the edge of the bed and smiles. "Guess I was stupid for having sex in the first place." She takes down her long dark hair and hides her face. Just then the doctor walks in.

"I apologize for the delay Ms. Winds," the doctor sits in a rolling stool and comes to the end of the bed. The doctor has long, slicked back blond hair with hazel eyes.

"That's fine," she smiles. Her work persona is in place. "I'm in no hurry."

"Well let's look at this horridly swollen foot of yours." He begins to move the foot and decides to take X-rays. Angeal sighs and puts his head in his hands. The doctor is pushing her leg up to get a better look at her "foot" and Syria gets a queasy feeling in her stomach but doesn't say anything. It happens to her all the time. "If you could follow me to the room I'll begin X-rays on your foot." Angeal stands with the boots in his hands. After placing them in Syria's lap he picks her up and carefully carries her to the room. He notices tears on her face that she wipes away. She takes off her glasses and hangs them on his shirt. There's no reluctance from him, he just sits her down and rubs her back in an assuring manner.

This is why she hates men. They're too worried about sex and "manly" things to care about women. They're all pigs in her eyes. It's why if she does have sex it's meaningless in her eyes. Take her and Reno for example. They have sex every once in a while, but that's because they've been friends all her life. Okay… Bad example but you get the picture, right?

After the X-rays are developed and they're back in the room the doctor puts her foot in a splint and give her a solution to drink for two weeks.

"It should heal it by then, if not come back." He smiles. "Also, the SOLDIERS have taken all the crutches and wheelchairs there are. You'll have to find some elsewhere."

"I think we'll be fine, thank you." Angeal says as he stands to take Syria in his arms again.

Two weeks pass in Junon Bay, they're staying in the lower city for both of their benefit. Angeal runs errands she's supposed to. Not that it's a problem, she's temporarily handicapped. They don't talk much. Finally her foot heals and they're going back to Midgar.

"Why exactly were you sticking around me when you could have left?" She asked on the ride back.

"I was assigned by Shinra to follow you on your assignments."

"Why?" She's baffled.

"They think because of the recent fiend activity that it's way too dangerous for you out there." She crosses her arms and legs and leans back into the seat of the car they're in.

"They think I'm a pathetic, defenseless woman…" 'Typical men.'

"Yes," he affirms. Just as they're entering the city she gets a phone call from her little sister back in her hometown. Angeal watches the way her hand covers her mouth and tears fall from her eyes.

"I understand, how long has he been sick?" She asks. A pause, tears fall faster down her face and she hides it behind her hair again. "Shit," she's really crying now. "Yeah, I'll be there as soon as I can… Love you too. Bye sweetie." They're getting out and she throws her phone against the building they're next too. Somehow it doesn't break or malfunction in any way. She falls to her knees and begins to sob with her face in her hands. Reno's just turned the corner and sees her mess of long burgundy hair. He runs to her.

"Syria!" He yells as he stops in front of her and kneels down. "Baby, what's wrong?" He asks.

"D-" she can't get it out. He takes her into his arms. Somehow she always finds comfort there. "Dad died." She finally says through a strained, horribly unattractive voice. She sniffs hard to keep her nose from running. The driver hands her a pack of tissues and continues to unpack the car.

"I'm so sorry."

"Can you go back with me?" She asks. He shakes his head and sighs.

"I've got a job to do for the next few days. Angeal's your new bodyguard right? Maybe he can go with you."

"How'd you know?"

"I overheard someone mention it." He shrugs with a smile and tucks her hair behind her ear. "You're gonna be alright." He assures her. After Reno's gone she stands. She checks her phone as Angeal is picking up some of her luggage.

"Third floor," she mumbles as she grabs the rest of the bags and makes her way up to her room. He follows her as she hurries to the elevator. They're waiting awkwardly as she taps her foot to the tempo of the lobby song playing. Somehow, Angeal is watching her and notices her lightly humming to the song, tapping her foot to the tempo. A very precise ring lets them know the elevator has reached the ground floor and as the doors open to an empty elevator they walk on. He presses three and she begins to sing softly to the lyrics from the station playing. He watches her lips move to the jazz song. For some reason he never imagined her liking that kind of music. One… Two… Three… Ding! She's rushing out of the elevator and opening a door diagonal from it. She throws down her bag, picks up the letters and bills, and opening one she reads aloud to herself.

"We regret to inform you that your father is in the hospital and doesn't have long to live. He's been suffering from a brain tumor only recently discovered. Please come at the earliest convenience, for he wishes to be with his family one last time." She screams and throws the letter down. "Damn this job!" She kicks off her shoes, picks up a pillow on the couch and sobs again into it. Angeal can see that it's painful so he sits down next to her.

"Syria," his voice is low and calm. Much unlike hers that's shaky and unintentionally loud.

"What?" She asks as she looks over at him. She blows her nose into a tissue and takes her glasses off.

"I'm very sorry, if you need me to go with you to your hometown I'd gladly tell Lazard that it's for the best that I go with you even though it's a personal affair."

"I don't want you to involve yourself because of something I said to Reno. Reno and I grew up together, he knows and loves my father even though the bastard left my mother for a stripper and left her lovesick fending for three children." She'd said too much and the room became quiet and awkward. There was a knock at the door. It was her neighbor, Cissnei from the Turks.

"Hi Cissnei," Syria smiled.

"Oh, poor thing, Reno called to tell me what had happened. He said that if we get done early he'd come see you all. That and I heard you scream so I decided to check on you. Hello Angeal."

"Hi, you better get going."

"Right, bye!" She ran off to the elevator.

"It's not because of that. I think you're going to need some help. There are a lot of fiends and I'm not questioning your ability. I'm just saying that because of the circumstances you're going to need someone with you at all times to make sure you're okay." This explanation replays in her head a few times before she realizes what he's saying.

"Really?" She asks. He smiles softly and rubs her back as he nods.

Now Angeal doesn't know how to comfort people very well. Maybe that's because he spends more time hurting people than he does comforting. That and he never really grew up in that manner either. But, he was trying so kudos to him.

Syria stood and began to unpack her suitcase and fill it with different clothes. Angeal went back to Shinra and talked to Lazard about going to her hometown with her because he felt she wasn't strong enough to go alone.

Lazard understands on a level people think he's not capable. "We could really use you here, but your first and foremost mission is to make sure she's fine. She is the backbone of the company and people don't even realize it. You go with her, keep her safe. We need her. No one is more qualified than she is."


	2. Chapter 2

TWO

"Yeah, Reno. I'm fine. Angeal talked to Lazard so he's going with me… No. Well I wouldn't say that…" Angeal hears as he walks through her still open door. She has her back to him. "Fuck you!" She pauses. "Yeah, you know I love you too." Another pause. "You know, sometimes I wonder what I would have done if we hadn't run to Midgar. You know? I like this job. I get a lot of money. I don't stay in one place long, but then shit like this comes up and I'm gone for weeks at a time and somehow people can't get a hold of me." She sighs and wipes tears away. Angeal sits his bag down so he can sit on the couch silently. "Where's time travel, or nirvana for that matter, when you need it, huh? Yeah, I understand, get back to work." She laughs, "Love you too Reno. Bye." She gets off the phone and throws it in her pocket and makes sure her charger is in her suitcase before she turns around and screams, "Jesus Christ! Angeal when the fuck did you get here?" There's a strange silence as he gets up to retrieve her suitcase.

"A few minutes ago." Their hands touch and they shift awkwardly out of each other's way. "Listen," he starts. The way she turns is in reluctance. She doesn't want to have to go anywhere with anyone for her dad's funeral to begin with. She doesn't want him dead. "I know we're not acquainted yet, but we'll get there. And it's only Kalm so it's not too far away. I'm sorry I'm so quiet…"

"Don't apologize for your disposition. Besides, I should be the one apologizing for being such a bitch to you a few weeks ago. You know, threatening to rip off your sex organ and such."

"Yes, well…" he cleared his throat thinking about a dream he'd had of her the other night and looked toward the door. "You have your key? My car is downstairs." She turns off her lights, makes sure she doesn't have anything missing from her suitcase that she needs to take and they leave her apartment.

They had just left Midgar for Kalm when she said, "I wish I had a dog."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It would be nice to come home to something waiting for you. But I'm out so much…" There was silence.

"I understand." He says. And after a few minutes of silence he says, "I wish I had someone too come home to." Her eyes travel to him to see a distant look in his eyes. "My dad, he'd come home every day to my mother who eagerly awaited him. But my dad wanted me in SOLDIER. Wanted me to be the best. So I didn't pay much attention to it. I just want to walk in the door and have someone waiting for me."

"You and I are completely different people." She turned her gaze forward.

"How so?"

"I built this complex. After my mom and dad divorced I saw how lovesick my mom was. She took all three of us to beg for dad back at the front door sometimes. She drank and job-hopped and life was hell. So I built myself a loveless complex. I wasn't going to let a penis get in the way of my life. I don't want to fall in love and if I do fall I'm getting out as fast as I can." Angeal took his eyes off the road and looked to her.

"We really are different, aren't we?" There was a disappointed sigh, but only he knew of the disappointment. "Do you date?"

To this she gave a deep thought. "I've never been on one. Reno and I go to drink and such, but we've been friends for as long as I can remember. Probably, though, if I knew the person. I just wouldn't try to get attached."

"Oh, I see. So when's your next trip out of town?"

"Hell if I know, they tell me about two days in advance." She rolled her eyes.

"I can change that for you so it's not so short notice."

"I've tried to change it for the past few years I've been working there, nothing gets done!" He could tell she was annoyed.

"I'll put in a good word to Lazard. If I ask him to, he'll take charge of informing you and I when we have to leave."

"'We,' it sounds so weird." A random thought had her throwing her head back in laughter, "Angeal Hewley and Syria Winds, partners in crime. Traveling the world secretly selling out Shinra Inc. products!" Angeal did grin and chuckle.

"So you've been to all these towns before, right?"

"Pretty much, why?"

"Well, if I start going with you, would it make things different?"

"Just a little." Silence. "Maybe we should act like we're married…" They didn't look at each other. "Mr. and Mrs. Angeal Hewley… That's so weird." They were both thinking about it.

Angeal imagined walking in the door to see her, she'd make a slightly sarcastic comment as she throws her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. The door would get closed and locked and they'd go to the bedroom to release the tension he's got from being gone on a mission and have some hot, sweaty, bed breaking, ear nibbling, back scratching, hair pulling, neighbor bothering, completely erotic sex with her. He pulled himself out of the reverie and focused again on the road with a slight tint now added to his cheeks.

Syria imagined being at home, pregnant to him walking in the door with an incredibly handsome and off guard smile. She'd say something sarcastic as he'd come to her and kiss her deeply. She'd run her hands through his hair and groan at the taste of his lips wishing that she had the energy to get off the couch and have hot, sweaty, bed breaking, ear nibbling, back scratching, hair pulling, neighbor bothering, completely erotic sex with him. She blushed and turned her head off to the scenery in her passenger's side window.

Angeal cleared his throat; "We can be the modest married couple that doesn't have loud, obnoxious sex so everyone can hear it." Syria nodded in agreement but kept her eyes away. She didn't want to look over and envision him naked like she was a few seconds ago.

"So we're going to have to act like we're married in Kalm… Because, even though it's completely stupid, I have to go there and analyze as well. So my mom's going to be mad. SHIT!"

"What?" He asked and stopped the car. "What did you forget?"

"If you and I are going to be 'married', we need rings!" Angeal hit the steering wheel.

"Fuck! We're going to have to go back to Midgar, aren't we?" Syria nodded to his statement.

"I'll buy mine, if you buy yours. Do we need matching rings?"

"Would it look better if we got matching rings?" They were both flipping the fuck out over being "married" and they weren't even married.

"I don't know I've never been married! But my mom and dad had matching rings." Syria was wide eyed and petrified.

"So did mine, I think matching is better."

"Okay, so wait. We'll have too go to Shinra for about twenty minutes and get Lazard to fake wedding documents for us. So when did we get married?"

"Hell if I know." Angeal sighed.

"Just pick a fucking day!"

"April 12th!" Angeal screamed.

"Look! We're already fighting like a married couple. Now turn this fucking car around!" So Angeal floored it and turned 180 heading back to Midgar as fast as possible.

They're standing outside the ring shop looking at it with horror stricken faces. "Okay, lets go inside." Angeal held his arm for her to take it. So she did and they walked inside. "I hope you're good at acting."

"Of course I am." She smiled as they walked in. The girl behind the counter dropped the phone she was talking on.

"Oh my god." She said under her breath. She was a part of the Angeal fan club of Midgar. In fact, she was the president. So she picked up the phone and finished her conversation to hang up quickly. "Hello! And welcome to Shiva & Co. How may I help you?" She was trying to keep her composure.

"We're getting married," Angeal smiled to the charming girl.

"Oh… OH! Okay! So how will this be paid for? With a bla- er… MasterCard?" Angeal took out his wallet and handed the shaking girl his Black Card. She inhaled sharply and went to lock the front door of the store. She turned off the "Open" sign and came back behind the counter.

In the mean time, Syria looked to Angeal with a dropped jaw. "A black card?"

"Genesis, Sephiroth and I have them… We're the highest ranking General's now close your mouth, you look stupid." She closed her mouth and smiled at him.

"Okay! So what are you looking for?" She looked to Syria and smiled.

"Something… Simple? Right honey?""

"It's whatever you want darling." Angeal was trying not to laugh through his cheeky smile. So Syria turned back to the girl and noticed her eyeing Angeal. She pulled her mouth to the side and looked down. If she were to ever get married she wanted something elegant and sophisticated. She let go of Angeal's arm and looked around. She finally spotted a ring that she instantly fell for. Angeal couldn't help but love the mesmerized look on her face. The woman, in his eyes, was truly beautiful.

"This one…" It was a beautiful, flawless, solitaire princess-cut diamond mounted on a cathedral setting. The woman came over quickly and Angeal walked over calmly. After the ring, which was the right size, was on her finger they all stared at the way it seemed to blaze under the dim lighting.

"It's beautiful, just like you." Angeal smiled.

"So I can get it?" Syria was honestly very excited.

"Of course," His smile was sincere. She turned to him and placed her hand on his face as she kissed him deeply. The poor girl behind the counter gasped. Angeal was surprised but didn't let it show. He kissed her back deeply for show.

"Thank you," Syria smiled as she pulled away.

Angeal, out of breath, said, "Anything for you."

"S-so… Do you want to go ahead and pick out matching bands or…"

"Yes, please." Angeal smiles to the girl, making her swoon slightly. So she walks away to come back with various band trays. They end up getting bands that have four small diamonds, one on each side. Angeal had actually picked them out.

"Alright, that comes to… 60,000 gil." Angeal smiles but squeezes Syria's waist hard.

"Okay." And then Angeal kisses Syria again quickly and hugs her. "You are so lucky I have a good salary."

"I'm sorry, I can pay you back." She whispers.

"No, don't worry about it, I had too much in my account anyway." He laughs after the whisper.

They get into the car and drive off; Syria is putting on her band and 'engagement' ring. She then takes out Angeal's ring and holds it in front of him. He extends his fingers on his left had, so Syria takes that opportunity to lean over and place the ring on his finger. "That is so weird," Angeal's eyes are wide. She loves the way the mako looks in his eyes. "Now to go see Lazard."

"Oh joy," Syria groans as she puts her head on the rest.


	3. Chapter 3

THREE

"You want me to do what?" Lazard is baffled by the request of a fake marriage license.

"You know, forge a marriage license quickly." Angeal says in a strained manner. Lazard looks at the ring on his finger and the rings on Syria's nervous left hand.

"Is this for the job?"

"Yes, my family is in Kalm." Syria feels that she should explain it. It was her idea. "We have to go there anyway for field analysis. I thought it would be less conspicuous if we were…married." The laugh from Lazard makes them look to the floor.

"Okay, okay. I'll forge you documents if you do fake wedding pictures. Cake, dress and tux, and all." Their eyes go wide.

"We have to be in Kalm tonight before dinner!"

"It's only 2!" Lazard continued to chuckle to himself.

So they go down to Level 49 and set up the holographic projector in a "church" theme. They find a room with props, including a spare off white, backless ballroom dress that's elegant enough to be a wedding dress. Quickly, Syria changes into it and pulls her hair into an intricate bun, and putting on a little make up. She finds a plastic, convincing, bouquet and some matching off white shoes. Angeal has changed into a tuxedo. And helps her look for something like a ring bearing pillow. Genesis is coming in to look for a decoy sword.

"Uh, Angeal?" He asks.

"Yeah, no time to explain, can you be my 'best man?"

"Angeal?" Genesis asks again, his voice getting a little louder this time.

"We're having a fake wedding, come on." Angeal takes of Genesis's coat. About a minute later they're back with Genesis in a tux. They're running and see Lenore walking in the hallway. Lenore is one of Syria's best friends and some reason has on an intricate dress.

"Come on." Syria is running with Lenore's hand in hers.

"What's going on?"

"I'm getting hitched, come on!"

So they take a few pictures, all playing convincing roles on camera. Finally it comes to the kiss that seals the deal. They look at each other awkwardly. "No document if you don't kiss." Lazard reminds them, "Make it work!" Syria groans and throws her arm around Angeal's neck. His arms wrap around her mid section as he becomes engrossed in this amazing kiss that's going to be used to fake people out. Her tongue has snaked into his mouth for a very convincing shot of lip action. They hear the flash, and Genesis coughs. Syria pulls away and wipes her mouth off with the back of her hand and runs off to change again.

Angeal is dumbfounded. The best kiss of his life was for something that wasn't even real. He too wipes off his mouth and turns to Genesis. "Let's go change." Lenore walks out and Lazard goes to forge the documents.

About 20 minutes later they've got a fake, approved document in their hands and a few very convincing pictures. They begin driving to Kalm yet again, the whole way making up stuff to tell her family.

They walk into a small little house in Kalm. Her mom looks like death, but when she sees Angeal her mood lightens up. "Mom you're going to have to sit down." Angeal puts the suitcases down by the stairs and they sit on the couch across from her mom. Angeal has his arm around Syria, and she's blushing insanely as she looks at him. "Mom…" her voice is shaky as she's looking into Angeal's eyes. "Mom, this is my husband, Angeal Hewley…"

"Husband? You didn't even tell me you had a boyfriend!" Her mother was enraged. How could her oldest daughter not tell her she was getting married? Not even her father knew!

"I know, it was all just so sudden when it did happen, and then we both got so busy with work!"

"When was it?"

"April 12th," Angeal answered.

"That's over two months ago!" Now her mom is furious. Can't blame her, but she's falling for the lie so everything is going smoothly. "What exactly do you do Angeal?"

"I'm a SOLDIER, First Class."

"Damn," the woman gasped, "Handsome and important, I knew I taught my daughter well!" Syria smiles and bites her bottom lip.

"Oh! Let me get your sisters in here." Her mother gets off and hobbles to the kitchen.

"That's new," Syria shakes her head. "Thank you. This is going to take some getting used to."

"I know. Just act natural. Hopefully we won't have to do anything drastic. Let me see the ring again." When her sisters come in they gasp and squeal. They know who he is just by looking at him.

"You're married to a General!" her youngest sister, Hathor squeals. Syria again smiles. Her mom is busy in the kitchen and they all begin talking.

After a while Angeal says, "So we're going to be staying upstairs?"

"In my old room." The horror on her face is because of the girly way her old room is. Then again, her mother decorated it. They get out of the living room and go upstairs with the luggage. He closes the door and puts the bags down and sits next to her on the bed.

"Nice…"

"My mother did it." They both laughed and she looked down at her rings. "We might have to do drastic things, you know? Just so they'll believe us."

"Like kiss?"

"Or worse…" Syria suddenly remembers why they're there when she sees a picture of her on her dad's shoulders on her wall. "I didn't even get to say goodbye. And he's gone…" The tears catch Angeal off guard and his defenses break down.

"Please don't cry," he says as he pulls her into his arms and strokes her hair.

"You're very comfortable," she whispers into his chest. He chuckles lightly. "And you smell like sex," now they both laugh. But she doesn't laugh for long before she's sobbing hysterically as all the thoughts hit her from every angle.

Syria's mother walks upstairs and knocks on her door when its time for dinner. She opens it to see them both lying on her bed. Angeal's thumb is rubbing her hip in a repetitive pattern as he tells her stories about being in SOLDIER for as long as he has. "Dinner time," the now cheery woman says quietly as she turns and heads back downstairs with the biggest of grins on her face. Syria is now completely calm and staring into his eyes. She doesn't want to get up yet because his stories are very interesting. However, they sit up and sigh, then continue downstairs for dinner.

Her mother is at the head of the table, her sisters sitting on one side, her and Angeal on the other. "So, how did you meet?" Her middle sister, Addy asks.

"The truth?" Syria looks at Angeal and smiles. "Is that Angeal tells it so much better than I do."

"That's a lie," he glared at her, so she glared back. "But, we met on accident. Actually." He smirked now at her, still not looking away from her green eyes. "She and I met in Junon Bay about six months ago. She and I both had work to do there, and we were stuck in the same car ride to the same hotel. So we started talking, and I asked her out on a date. And I guess the rest is history."

"How did he propose?" Hathor asked

"Yes, sweetie," her mom smiled, "How did it happen?"

"Well…" Syria coughed and took a drink of her wine. "It was all very sudden. I didn't even know he was that serious about us. But we went out to dinner on an assignment in Costa del Sol that we had together. We went out on the beach and started walking, talking. We were really far out and he just proposed out of the blue. I really had to think about it for the next few days, but I'm sure I made the right choice." All three of them sighed. It was the perfect proposal for Syria in their eyes. The funny thing is, Angeal had come up with it in the car.

Silence had ensued when her mother, being her mother, decided to ask, "So when am I getting grandbabies. Angeal began coughing on the bite he had just swallowed and Syria was trying her best not to spit out her wine.

"What?"

"You know, when can I expect to be a grandmother?"

"Mom, we've been married for two months."

"You know I had conceived you a few months before your we had our wedding!"

"I know but mom, we're trying to wait it out. We've been really busy. We're going to wait until we can finally settle down a little bit before we bring a kid into our lives."

"Well get to it before I die." Angeal began to laugh at the woman's statement.

"Yeah, mom, we'll get it on tonight so I can get knocked up." Everyone laughed except her. "No, Angeal knows I'm not ready."

"And she knows I don't care when it happens."

"So how was the honeymoon?"

"Hot," Syria sighed.

"Sweaty," Angeal smirked.

"Bed breaking…"

"Ear nibbling…"

"Back scratching,"

"Hair pulling,"

"Neighbor bothering…"

"Yeah, it was fun." Angeal concluded. Syria coughed into her napkin and stood.

"Anyone else done?" She took Angeal's plate, which was now empty, along with Hathor's and Addy's.

"Syria," her mother looked at her with raised eyebrows and skeptical stare, "make it work." Syria shook her head as she walked into the kitchen to put the dishes in the sink. Angeal followed.

"Sorry," he whispered.

"Yeah, me too." She said softly.

Later that night they sat on her bed, knowing fully well that they'd have to share the bed. It was well past midnight. Her mother's door and light were still on, it was silent in the next room.

"That woman should be asleep by now," Syria groaned.

"What's keeping her?" Angeal asked. The more Syria thought, the more she realized what was keeping her. She groaned and plopped onto the bed. "What?"

"She's waiting for us to… You know." She whispered. Angeal's eyes went wide. "There's a vent connecting from my room to hers, she's waiting to see. Probably won't go to sleep until we do."

"So what do we do?" He whispered back. She stood and went to lock the door, and turned off the light. She grabbed her robe out of her suitcase to hang it on her bedpost.

Then she straddled him and whispered as she began to unbutton her shirt, "With thin walls and good acoustics in the ventilation, we're either going to have to have sex or make very convincing noises and act parts very well. Which would you prefer?"

"Considering you only have sex with people you know for a long time, I suppose we can fake it. Just how good are the acoustics?"

"I could hear every detail of my parents bedroom nights…" her face made a disgusted look. He sighed and pulled her down into a kiss.

"Can she hear that?"

"Yeah." Her heart was racing in her chest. She didn't know why but she loved to kiss him just as much as he liked to kiss her. So they kissed more as they undressed to play their parts.

Her mom was pretty convinced of it too and a little flustered. Angeal would repetitively, but lightly, slap the side of her thigh as she'd bounce a little on her bed and make very convincing groans. After the awkwardness subsided it felt pretty normal. They'd kiss every once in a while, and she'd groan into it, then they'd shift around on the bed and begin again. After a while, Angeal began to groan too and then they stopped. They smiled at each other when they were done.

"That was very convincing." He whispered as she kissed his neck. She groaned in an agreement, and then bit his neck. He inhaled deeply and they both stood to undress the rest of the way. She put on her robe and when he lay back down on the bed she left the room. Her mother's door was now closed. She went to the bathroom and wiped off the sweat that had gathered on her face. With the door closed behind her when she walked back into the room, she took off the robe to be left in essentials and lay down with Angeal.

"Good God, what a day…" She sighed as she lay on him. His arm wrapped around her and he began to run patterns down her back with his fingers. He agreed with a nod as she placed her head under his chin. "Are we really going to have to do this a lot?" She whispered.

"Guess so," he said lightly back. "Good night."

Syria yawned out, "Sweet dreams."


	4. Chapter 4

F O U R

Angeal wakes up before Syria. He looks at her peaceful face and for once takes a good look at it. To him it's perfect. Nothing stands out too much except her gorgeous green eyes. Surrounded by thick, long eyelashes. He gently pulls himself out from beneath her completely relaxed sleeping body so he can get up to change. He takes a shower and gets dressed in a black dress shirt and pants. He walks downstairs to help his "mother-in-law" with the cooking. She's surprised to see that he can, in fact, cook a very good meal.

When everything is done he goes upstairs to see if Syria is up. She's still sleeping on her old bed quite soundly. He walks in and closes the door. "Syria," he says as he sits next to her. She sighs in her sleep. "Syria," now he's shaking her.

"Huh?" her voice is cracked and loud.

"Breakfast is ready." She sits up and wipes her eyes.

"But I gotta get up and go to the bathroom and brush my teeth and take a shower and do my hair and get dressed!"

"How about you put on some pajamas, go to the bathroom, brush your teeth, come downstairs to eat, then come back up to do the rest." It makes perfect sense.

"Okay," she sighs as she stands up. Right now, she's not sure if this is reality because of the extremely elaborate dream she'd had the night before. She gets some shorts and an oversized t-shirt so she can go to the bathroom. Angeal shakes his head and waits for her. He's looking around at all of her pictures on the painfully bright pink walls. He sees one of a little girl and a man that looks exactly like her. He then goes through her drawers in her desk and sees more pictures. One of these pictures is of her and her sisters. It's actually from a local article.

"Local sisters fend off powerful monsters from City," he reads aloud to himself. It's a four-year-old article. The picture gives him chills. He puts the article down and sorts through the pictures. He sees a picture of her and Reno and takes it out. Reno's licking some kind of batter off her cheek and she's trying to push him away with an extremely amused smile on her face. He smiles and puts the picture back. Another picture of her and her sisters, they've all got guitars in their laps playing something while they sing. He remembers her in the elevator singing yesterday. Then he comes across one of her and Reno going to a school dance. He hears the stick of the bathroom door and closes the drawer quickly.

Syria walks in to see him looking at the pictures on her wall. "That's my dad," she says as she points to one very crowded picture. She pulls him downstairs before he can really look at it. Her mother is setting the table.

"Morning sleeping beauty," she grins and winks at her daughter. Syria's face turns completely red. It's so strange to have her mother making indirect comments about her sex life.

"Morning mom," she sighs as she walks into the kitchen. Her sisters are standing in the kitchen looking at her with a singular strange glow to their eyes. "Morning girls." They now grin.

"You all were so loud last night," Hathor coughed.

"Hathor, I'll kick your ass! Don't talk about that!"

"But you were!" Addy agreed.

Angeal walks in to see them all giving each other glares. Hathor must be the youngest, she's still got the childlike look to her. And she is, she's only 16. Addy is 19, and Syria is a few weeks away from 21, but she could pass for 25. "Morning girls." He smiles. Addy and Hathor nearly swoon. He grabs the coffee pot and a mug. Syria puts on the kettle to boil water for her morning tea. She looks in the cabinet for her favorite mug.

"It's not there." Addy smiles her twisted grin that says she's done something with it. The girls' eyes turn to the high beams of the kitchen.

"She went through a lot of trouble doing that," their mother says as she walks in.

"On an empty stomach and without tea." Syria snarls to herself as she runs from one end of their rather large kitchen to the other. Then she jumps up into the corner and ricochets herself up to the 15 feet high ceiling beams. Angeal's eyes are wide as he watches the brisk way she walks her way to the mug she's after.

"Show off," Addy growls as she leaves for the dining room.

"How did you do that again?" Hathor asked while she watched her sister bend down to get the mug.

"Angeal, catch," Syria throws the mug to him, which he catches as he watches her jump from the beams to the floor. "I'll show you later Hathor, I have tea to make." She rinses out the mug, which she's taken from Angeal and pours the now boiling water into it. They all go to the dining room when they've got what they want.

"I see your morning bitterness hasn't gone away." Addy spits.

"Shut it." Syria spits back.

"Oh make me."

"Addy! What's your fucking problem?" Syria's now enraged. "So I got the mug! Why do you have to start this?"

"You've got a good job! And a good husband! And you've always outdone everything I could ever hope to do!"

"Stop making me a Mary Sue!"

"But you are!"

"Far from it!" Syria laughed. "I don't need this today! At least you got to be with daddy while he was alive for the last few days! I haven't seen him in months! And I'm this close," there's about a millimeter between her fingers, "to losing what sanity I have left! Now shut up, sit your ass down and eat your god damn food!" Everyone sits in silence. The mother looks at Addy with a glare on her face, then to Syria. Hathor serves herself some food and begins eating. Syria serves herself next, then Angeal, then the mother. Addy walks away. Syria stands and throws her napkin down onto the floor. "Addy get your ass back in here!"

"Syria," her mom tries to stop her.

"Why should I miss perfect?"

"Stop with that bullshit!"

"Why should I? Huh? What flaws do you have, you're the favorite!" Addy screams from the top of the stairs.

"The hell do you know? Wanna know what flaws I have?" Addy stares down at her sister and nods. "I-" Syria can't filter the thoughts running through her head, but all of a sudden things are spilling out of her mouth, "I got pregnant at 15 with Reno's baby! I was the one who crashed dad's car into the lake, I did it on purpose. I was also behind all the field fires just outside the city. I prostituted myself to help mom keep food on the table when I was 16! Got addicted to drugs to get through all of it! On the side I dealt a lot of shit! And that doesn't cover half of it. I did a lot for you all that could have killed me because mom couldn't. I had to give up being a child for you! So don't bullshit me, I wasn't the favorite. It was always you!"

"Prostituted…" Addy was walking down the stairs.

"Why do you think I ran with Reno when he said, 'I'm going to Midgar,'?" Addy started crying. "Now shut up, sit your ass down and eat your god damn breakfast!" Syria laughed as she wiped away her sisters tears.

"Do you regret it?" Addy asked.

"Not a day goes by, but it's over and done with. I can't change the past."

"So-"

"I don't want to talk about it now," Syria sighed. They all ate in silence, especially her mother.

Hathor's mind was riddling with the question. Finally it fell from her mouth when she couldn't stand it anymore, "Is that why Kit looks like Reno?"

"What?" Addy looked disgusted.

"You went away with daddy for a long time, right? Is that why you went? To get away from us? And is that why Kit looks like Reno?"

"No, Kit is Jule's son." Syria laughed. "No my baby was stillborn."

"Good God!" Angeal sighed as he put his head back. "You're filling me in when we get back home," he said in an annoyed fashion. He just wanted the conversation to stop. He didn't particularly care about all this stuff. People have pasts; he was just tired of it because he could tell it was taking its toll on Syria.

"Are you mad?" She was acting again.

"What do you think?" He stood and took his plate into the kitchen. She followed. Her look was quizzical. He smiled and shook his head.

After her shower she decided to let her hair dry into the natural beautiful curls she had. Angeal was on the bed when she walked in, his eyes closed. "Let's talk," He sighed. The door clicked shut as she leaned on it.

"About?"

"What happened to you when you were young."

"Angeal," she sighed.

"I've got some skeletons too, just tell me."

"I… I told you my life was hell!"

"Just get your ass over here and sit down." While she knew they were going to have to get close, she didn't want it to be this fast.

"It made me numb, seeing my baby boy dead. But I was so young, you know? And Reno, he was too carefree to be a dad. I knew I wasn't fit to be a mom. And mom got to the point where the only job she could keep didn't pay very well. So I went to Midgar… And I looked for a job, but the only thing I could even find that wasn't going to ask for any of my information was the whorehouse. So I went there. Met some girls who helped me get through it with heavy drugs. And then their dealer took a liking to me. So… So I did that, and in the mean time I started having to fight and run a lot more. It's how I got good at defending myself. It's how I can scale walls. Hell… I can run them! But I didn't tell anyone until a few months ago. I only did it for a year before Reno saw what it was doing to me. He really cared, you know? So he told me he was going to Midgar to work for Shinra. And I went with him to get a job. So Lazard told me they needed a person to do undercover work. I took the job without a second thought. Never looked back." She began to cry again. "It's why dad didn't want me there, I know he didn't. It's why no one tried to call me until after the fact! He didn't care that I did it to keep them alive. Only cares that I could've soiled the good ol' family name! It's why I don't care what this job puts me through. It's why I'm such a bitch to everyone." Angeal sighs. "Don't tell anyone okay, I don't need to lose my job!"

"Its your past," he shrugs and takes her hands. "What you did, it might not have been the best thing, but you did it for the people you love the only way you could think of. So don't let it get to you. In my eyes, it never happened."

"Hey married people! It's time to go!" Hathor yells from downstairs.

"Ready?" Angeal helps her off of the bed.

"To cry a hell of a lot more than I have the past few days? Of course," she gives a fake smile.

They're all standing around the casket, all real quite. Seriously quiet. No, deadly quiet. No one, not even the women's still lovesick mother cried nearly as hard as Syria. Of all the things she wished she could have said, or done to make him happy, so she could atone for the actions that made him despise her, could never be uttered into life now.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: **_There's a lemon in this, just so you know._

**F I V E**

S Y R I A ' S P O V

It was sometime later that night when I was on the bed in my old room looking at the picture of dad and me on the wall when the rage finally set in. I'm not going to let myself wallow over some selfish fucking prick, even if it is my father. After retrieving the knife from my bedside stand I open it and quickly throw it at the picture. There's a tiny cracking sound from the glass, but it makes it all the way through the picture frame dead center where I want it to land.

"Are you okay?" Angeal asks. Those beautiful mako eyes are looking at me with this depth of emotion that only one other man has really shown around me.

"We're leaving," I say quickly as I stand from my bed. His dexterity scares me, and suddenly I'm restrained in the grasp of his hands.

"What's wrong?" What isn't wrong? I'm in this dumb fucking town, mourning over some sadistic asshole that didn't want anything to do with me when he died. On top of that, I'm "married" to this completely gorgeous and perfect man that just so happens to be sleeping in the same bed with me every night. That thought wants to keep me here longer. But to hell with it. I'm not staying any longer than I have to.

"Have you ever really kept yourself uptight over someone that didn't really care for you? Spent a lot of energy on them, took a lot of time out of your life for them, but they didn't even want you there beside them. They didn't want to look into your eyes one last time because they were so ashamed of something you had to do." His eyes soften just a bit at this and I'm secretly dissolving at the most beautiful gaze I've ever encountered.

"It wasn't exactly that, but something very close." _Of course_ he has.

"Then you understand why I can't stay in this house any longer. I want out of this place, out of this town. I want to go back and drink until I can't stand up and then drink some more. And then I want to take all my frustration out on someone with a hot fucking and then leave 'em out to dry!" I think about what I've just said for a second. "Okay, I really wouldn't do the last part, but I do want to get shit faced. Can you just get me out of here?" I'm looking at this insanely handsome man while I'm in this destructive state and wishing I could fuck his brains out. In my hazed eyes there's so much tension that my subconscious knows is not really there. He walks away from me and begins to put things back in his suitcase.

Suddenly I'm on my knees in front of him, kissing him so passionately that it hurts. I've never been relieved so much in my life. As his lips move with as much ferocity as mine I begin to groan and pull myself tight against his body. Somewhere inside me I hear, "You're going too far," but I ignore it as his hand finds its way into my hair. He places me on my back now pressing himself against me. Again I groan as I begin to ache for it. I can tell that somehow he's just as forceful, if not more, than I am in bed and I want it. I want this more than anything as our tongues dance together on my childhood bedroom floor. Now he pulls me up to sit on his knees while violently pushing my skirt up so I can straddle him. My lips fixate on his neck, I've got a tight grip on his hair, and I'm grinding myself on him. When I get a groan out of him I feel I'm ready to take it to the next level. But there's a knock at the door. We pull away from each other and straighten up a little before I open it to see Hathor looking at the ceiling ineptly with tinted cheeks. Then again, Hathor has always been the most mature of my little sisters.

"Yes?" I ask, a little breathless I might add.

"We're going to have a home movie night, do you all want to come down?"

"No, I think we're going to go home now." I hate the completely disappointed look on her face. She is my favorite sister.

"Oh, okay, so… Can I come over sometime?" She asked. She'd never really seen Midgar.

"We'll talk about it and let you know, okay?" I give her a kiss on the forehead before I close the door again. Angeal and I pack in silence.

The car is packed up, we're saying goodbye. We say ours quickly and head out. It's comfortably silent in the car considering the fact that we practically seduced each other on my old bedroom floor. "I am so sorry, that was so uncalled for."

"It was out of line for me."

"It won't happen again…"

"Why no- I mean, you're right." Now it's kind of awkward as he clears his throat and turns his eyes back to the road. "So you're into that sort of thing?" His voice is so smooth for the moment that I find it hard to respond.

"Yes, but I'm really more into being controlled," I admit with a sigh. "I've never met a man that takes control of the situation for very long."

"I've never met a woman like you." Another strangely comfortable silence.

When I'm back home he helps me with the suitcase even though it rolls. I sit my things down and look at Angeal, imagining all the ways I could ravage him with my body and then my phone rings. "Thank you, Angeal," I smile awkwardly as I pick up my phone. He nods, smirks, and walks out closing the door behind him. As I quickly put the receiver to my ear I think, '_Composure_.' "Hello?"

"So I see this girl right? And I feel sort of like following her, so I do. Okay? The elevator doors open and I walk past someone who's just come from this girls' apartment. I nonchalantly walk in and say," Reno closes the door and phone at the same time. "Let's go drink."

"Good god you know me so well!" I laugh as I start to undress. He's seen it all before, but still whistles as I walk to my room. I give him the finger.

"Gladly, but how about a little later, kay?" I laugh as I quickly change into a short skirt and tank top. When I walk out Reno groans in approval. "Ooh, baby," he draws it out and walks over to grab my ass. "It gets shorter every time. Is it later yet?"

"I need a few rounds before you can tear my clothes off. But I promise the bed won't be standing in one piece by the end of the night."

We end up going to a club and sit in a booth off to the side. A very flexible girl is dancing on the pole tonight and she's absolutely beautiful with her platinum blond hair. Reno excuses himself for a few minutes as I watch the girl throw herself around this pole. I feel like giving her a tip, but I'm too worried about getting drunk to care. Reno comes back a few minutes later. "Sorry babe," his grin is so cheeky.

"'S okay," I laugh as I down another shot of Yeager. I hiss as it goes down and laugh again. "Did I tell you I got 'married'?" I struggle with the air quotes.

"No, you didn't." He's not getting drunk because he has to drive us home. I think where I am right now is fine with me, so I try to pull him out of the club. Suddenly I see Genesis out of the corner of my eye with a very pretty dirty blond behind him. He takes the girl from off the stage and they leave. I'm bored now.

"You ready to go?" I ask as I pull him out of the booth.

"Guess so," his eyes light up.

I close the door and walk to my room shutting the blinds. He follows me in after he takes off his shoes by the front door and closes the bedroom door for no reason. He's always done that. As soon as the blinds are closed he's behind me, his lips pressing against my neck his hand traveling down somewhere that hasn't **really** been touched in a while. I shiver at his eager touch and let my head loll onto his shoulder. Reno's usually into an extremely dominating girl, but tonight it's all him. I turn to take off is t-shirt. As I'm kissing him deeply he's got his hands under my tank top unclasping my bra. He's done with it quickly and throws it to the floor as he pushes me down onto the bed. For some reason it doesn't really seem like Reno's in my bed tonight. It seems like someone else. He kisses me again and snakes his hand down under my panties. I gasp and quake under the extensive work of his fingers. He's only done this to me once before, and I'm lucky he doesn't do it more because it's something to get easily addicted to.

I'm breathing hard and shaking slightly as I feel the orgasm slowly begin to build. Reno can tell when I'm almost there because of how many nights we've been in bed together and his hand retreats. Of course I'm mad now, I really wanted that feeling to explode through me, but the fact is he knows just how to drive me crazy. He and I work to get his pants off and discard them to the floor. I go after his neck as he pulls down my skirt. And quickly everything else finds it way to the floor in this fury of passion I've never seen from him. He's quick to take his place inside me and I moan as he does it. I really haven't had sex in quite a while, so this is refreshing and exhilarating. Tonight it seems an animal has taken over my beloved Reno. He doesn't start out slow to build it up like he usually does. In fact, I don't think "slowly" is in his vocabulary anymore. He's quickly thrusting inside me. My heart is beating wildly in my chest and an automatic euphoria is pulsing through my veins. And quickly I can feel it building. So I push my hips into the air and he laughs as he continues to thrust, compensating now for the change in position. I'm trying not to moan loud because I really do like my neighbors, but it's so much different than before. This beast that's taking residency inside me dies as his is unleashed. Just as I'm about to climax again he pulls out and grins. "Why?" I moan into the pillow.

"Because I want you to go wild before you ever start to come," he breathes as he pulls me up. Now I'm on all fours as he's again quickly, and fiercely, thrusting inside me. I squeeze my eyes shut and rest my head on the pillow. I concentrate on constricting my muscles around him as hard as I can. He groans and begins to really thrash into me. And this is exactly what I want because soon enough I'm shaking as a ferocious set of moans gets muffled by my pillow and my skin releases a thin layer of sweat. All of my muscles are tight as the feeling travels through my entire being. It makes my toes curl, my head feels strangely heavy, my fingers are wrapped around whatever I can grab, and my back arches. This pleasure is pulsating through my body. "You're so fucking devious," he growls. But he loves what I do to him to get what I want. I die down from the high and let him have his way with my body in this beautifully monstrous way of his.

It seems like an eternity goes by while my body is quaking and tingling with gut wrenching pleasure that I can't seem to fully comprehend. It's the best I've ever had. And somehow he's found the way to bury himself within me just right so that I'm not coming down. It hits me one after another. My back is arched high into the air as my hands grasp the sheets and his hair. I try to suck in sharp breaths that don't seem to register with my body. I feel like I've exploded out of my still living corpse from pleasure and intense heart rate. And finally he stops as he groans and releases himself deep into the confines of my womb. We collapse together onto my bed as I try to piece myself back together. I can't push myself up without trembling. My body has somehow completely relaxed itself. No longer do I try to get up, I simply gasp for breath and roll onto his bare chest as he too breathes heavily.

"Like it?"

"I loved it." Our lips meet, but I'm too weak to kiss him with enthusiasm.

"Good, I really tried." A sudden exhaustion overwhelmed me.

"You did exceptionally well. Can we do that again tomorrow?" I ask through a sigh. But I remember that I have to get up in the morning for work. Thank god it's only 11.

"Tomorrow night?"

"That's fine, after work."

"Eh, work…" he sighs now. Finally I feel I can stand to get up and go to the bathroom. He watches me as I walk. For some reason I feel like I've done something wrong. I know I haven't, but then it hits me like a ton of bricks. We forgot a condom. I keep composure and won't let myself worry about it unless something really does happen. Smart Syria, real smart. Getting drunk and shit faced with Reno isn't the smartest thing to do because he's so eager to dive right in that he forgets too. Whatever can't do anything about it now!

When I wake up, Reno's gone and I've slept in. I know I have an alarm clock but… Yeah. My mind doesn't exactly work when I'm exhausted. I cuss, jump out of bed, take a quick shower, let my hair curl today, get dressed, put on my "glasses" and shoes, and then I walk out the door. I'm walking as quickly as I can too get to the Shinra building. Lazard calls as I'm rushing to get to work on time.

"Hello?"

"Hi Mrs. Hewley," someone's way too fucking amused for my taste.

"Hello Lazard." Great, a little breathless am I? Another chuckle from the person that's way too amused.

"We've got a meeting in fifteen minutes and the elevators are not operational. I can see you haven't clocked in yet. Better get here quick." He laughs as I curse under my breath and take off my high heels.

"I need to start buying flats, what do you think?"

"That's a good idea. See you in fifteen." He hangs up and I put my phone in my purse, take off my work jacket to throw it over my arm and begin running as fast as I can to get to work. I'm there in three minutes. Okay, twelve to go. People are staring at me as I'm running in, quickly clocking in. Stairs. Oh great time to forget where the entrance to the stairs is. I'm looking, walking quickly. I see Angeal waiting by the entrance I'm searching for. I run over, people still staring.

"If we get up at least five levels a minute we're good to go. You should have gotten up earlier." I sneer and congratulate myself on wearing pants for once. I run up flight after flight. Angeal's a little ahead of me. "So how was your night?"

"Two… three… Fine, and yours?" Four…

"Same, I got a dog."

"Lucky!" Five. Good, only half a minute gone.

"What did you do?"

"Went out drinking. Six… Seven…"

"With Reno?"

"Yeah, eight…"

"Cool." He jumps up onto the banister and begins jumping up the railing. I follow suit and in a few minutes I'm catching my breath in the Level 50 hallway. Angeal is of course, fine. Motherfucker!

"I'm going to punch whoever invented meetings in the cunt!" Angeal smiles and scrunches his nose.

"What if it was a man?"

"I'll punch his cunt too, don't worry."

"Excuse me, cunt talk is for after work." Lazard laughs.

"Pardon me."

"The elevators will be working in about a half an hour."

"Couldn't we have held off the meeting for that long?" My eyes are wide. Lazard shakes his head and smiles.

"Couldn't resist seeing a woman sweat, that and after this meeting I have to go to Costa del Sol and won't be back in time to brief you properly on going to Neibelheim." He pauses for just a minute to let me fully catch my breath. "And Angeal sort of asked me to brief you all a week in advance because Heidigger can't seem to get the job done. Are you ready?" Angeal walks into a conference room across the hall, and I follow, putting my jacket and shoes back on. _Lovely_ day…


	6. Chapter 6

**S I X**

A N G E A L ' S P O V

From an outside perspective I can honestly say that the woman I'd been assigned to work with had a lot of growing up to do. She's selfish, naïve and her vanity speaks louder than her seemingly limited vocabulary. The newfound mannerisms she's become accustomed to saying were her morals weren't that at all. I could smell the fear. Taste it writhing in her body like a distant pain you couldn't exactly place.

As Lazard explains what is clearly stated in the file I begin to read ahead. "Now I realize you had some family issues to attend to…"

I block out the rest as I think about my training session later with Zack Fair who's coming back from Costa del Sol. He was there with Sephiroth and Riseon. Sephiroth won't be back for a while, and Genesis has accepted mission after mission recently for no apparent reason at all. So I was stuck at home with Pongo.

"Over the next week, of course, you'll go to meetings about the technology development of Rocket Town. And you, Angeal, will have assignments and training to attend to. So however you coordinate is fine with me, just be in Nibelheim on Monday." Lazard stood, so we followed suit.

As I'm walking toward the stairs Syria calls my name. I can see there's something different as she's in her "work persona". When I turn I smile half-heartedly and sigh. "Look… I know your job isn't very…'job-like' but I have a lot of things to do, I can't talk during work. As it is I'm leaving a lot of SOLDIERS waiting." She gives a disappointed nod and walks away.

Of course I know why I'm doing this to her all of a sudden. She'd broken past barriers I'd built for a reason. I didn't want them torn down around my feet.

When I walk in I see a room full of uncomfortable Second Class SOLDIERS whispering to one another. "What is this? Not standing at attention while waiting for a superior officer?" Immediately they formed lines and stood completely straight with their arms to their sides. "Now today I'll be assigning you to random groups and putting you through completely random simulations that I expect Second Class to come out of alive."

After assigning the groups I set the simulator and began watching with the others as the first group went through. Eventually all groups had come back, and those who passed out were stuck doing an ungodly amount of pushups. And just for fun after they were done I made them spar. The losing person from the spar had to do more push ups. Until finally it was down to two very tired Second Class SOLDIERS. I had decided not to make them fight. It was lunchtime anyway.

When I was downstairs I saw that Zack had returned and that he was sitting with Syria and her friend Lenore. I just cannot get away from that woman. I get my lunch and sit with them. There's silence as I sit. So they were talking about me.

"So you're hitched?" Zack asks while looking over at me with a smirk.

"Going on three days," I respond as I make a fist with my left hand.

"So what's her ring look li- HOLY!" Zack is now staring at the ring on Syria's finger. His eyes are wide. "How much was that?"

"Altogether, more than you make," Lenore chuckled.

"Not true, he's almost a first class," Syria defended. "So I'd say he makes pretty good money." To this Zack smiled up at her.

"That is true," I shrugged. There was silence as we all took a bite of food at the same time. Now, it seems like I was the only one that found it amusing.

When work is over I'm walking briskly out of the building to my car. What I see sends envy down my spine for no reason. As I stop to quickly think about it I realize it's not that I'm envious more than the fact that I just can't stop thinking about her to save my life. It should be my hands running through that hair. And my lips pressing to the soft, porcelain skin of her cheek.

Finally I walk into my apartment to see Pongo lying on the couch with a bored demeanor. After taking off the SOLDIER uniform, in strangely record timing, and replacing the attire for something completely casual, I sit with the large puppy on the couch. As he rearranges himself so he's lying on my lap I begin to think. It really is nice to have someone to come home to. You walk in they're waiting for you. The thoughts drift off.

Legally, I'm married. What if I came home with the woman I was "married" to every day? How would we react? Would it be just an everyday routine? Say, for instance, I walk in and take a shower, then dress in something like this. I'd sit with her on the couch and talk about the day we had at work, the way we grew up, the adventures we'd been on.

Or would it be completely 180? Instead of calm and collected, we walk in the door fuming over something as dense as forgetting to make the bed that morning because we were rushing out the door. Voices would rise, and doors would slam. Exiled to the couch, how convenient!

And could it be different from that. We'd walk in to close and lock the door. In a haze of tension our lips would meet, our bodies would touch. She'd feel the strange nervousness within her as I pull her thighs up around my hips and walk us to the couch.

Even then it could be different. Maybe it could be all three. Maybe it's none of the above.

"Hey Pongo," the dog immediately perks up at the mention of its name. "Do you want to go outside?" He jumps down, obviously I'm asking him something of importance! When his leash was on, and I had put on my running shoes, I grabbed a Frisbee for us to have as entertainment.

Just as I opened the door, there was the woman who plagued my thoughts. Her hand was up and the look on her face was "OH GOOD GOD I'VE BEEN SHOT!"

"Hello," I smiled.

"Oh, hi, sorry. Bad timing? Sorry, I'll go… OH MY GOSH! He's so pretty!" She bent over to pet Pongo.

"His name is Pongo. Do you want to go with us to the park?"

"That's fine." She smiled as she turned her attention to the dog and said, "I always wanted to name my doggy Purdy! Yes I did!" She stands and I extend my arm for her to take. It's something I have to get used too anyway. There was nothing standing in the way of my common courtesy even if she did drive me a little insane.

When we're at the park we take turns throwing the Frisbee for Pongo. As soon as we're done and we're walking around the park the girl from the jewelry store and her friend walk up. I sigh and shake my head, knowing fully well that this girl is the "president" of my "fan club". Why I would have one of those, I have NO idea. Syria tenses next to me. How do women know? They both take their turn of asking questions and then go on. I can feel that she's still uncomfortable.

As we get back to my apartment we begin to talk about Nibelheim again. I'm not afraid of going through the mountain. Never have been and never will be, I just don't see why she thinks it's the only way through. Finally, I'd had enough. We made our way back to Shinra for a spar that would determine which way we'd go to.

I was buckling the placard around my abdomen and walking into level 49 when I heard a few familiar chuckles and a dirty comment. Reno. "You can't take it off me! I just got it on!" Syria's voice was slightly amused.

"Alright, let's go!" I yelled as I unsheathed my sword and quickly ran to meet her. The sleek katana staved my attack and I was pushed back forcefully. It was surprising to see that much power come out of this girl. There was no materia in use from what I could see. Reno backed away quickly and watched from the side. Every attack from her was swift, agile, and forceful. It took every ounce of concentration I had to fight against every powerful attack.

"What's the matter Angeal?" The words caught me off guard and she landed a blow to my arm. After a quick hiss I regained balance and blocked a swift swing to the gut. "Am I too fast for you?"

Now I used my other senses to aid me in battle, but I wasn't quick enough to account for her swing to the back of my knees. She took pride in having knocked me onto my knees. I took this opportunity to somersault through the air directly behind her and place the sharp edge of my buster sword to her neck.

"You're too cocky, we're not going through the mountain," I growled lowly into her ear. She gave a laugh and pushed my sword away.

"What's being cocky got to do with it?" To this, I gave a laugh and moved dangerously close to her. It reminded me of how "close" we were back in Kalm.

"Every second in the battle has to be spent in focus. Isn't that right, Reno?"

"Yeah, I got an ass kicking from Cissnei the other day because I was too cocky." As he shrugged, I smirked.

"See?" She glared at me, probably thinking it was cruel of me to bring her life long friend into the conversation to go against her. At this I had to rejoice.

We could go through Rocket Town, but from there, we'd cross the river and take a car to Nibelheim. But I didn't feel like being picky about the way we went, I'd just get us there.


End file.
